When the first Little Nightmare game came out, the projection of a dark and gloomy environment exudes a mysterious depth of attraction to me. When I first saw the trailer, I was immediately hooked and wanting to know more and even more so to get my hands on it.
Little Nightmares begins with the story of a 9-year-old girl named Six. Her journey has to navigate and avoiding many confrontations with many monsters and grotesque characters.
The story of the first game isn’t straight-up understandable but it tells the tale as you weave your way from one section to another through the environment around it. It is not going to be fully understood once you see it and piece it together, you suddenly are presented with an interesting story that can be both intriguing and open-ended – especially the ending.
My major complaint about the game is that there is little variety in its gameplay. Couple with the fact that everything takes place inside a huge ship. While each “stage” you go through looks different but the atmospheric and lighting can oftentimes feel too samey all the way.
This can really make the game feel bland and unexciting as you progress further. Sure, there are some puzzles that different from one another but it doesn’t help to give variety to players to further enhance the experience.
Nonetheless, right now, I am fortunate to be given a chance to play an extended version of the demo of the sequel, and here are my thoughts, nit-picks, and others towards the demo.
What’s In It?
The demo consists of one level which sets you up inside the hospital. The entire demo can last almost 30 minutes so it does give some adequate amount on what has changed from the last game.
From that I have experienced within the span of 30 minutes is that there are a lot of changes that Tarsier Studios put in.
The demo kicks off with your controlled char along with the AI of another robot. This is where you to get see the potential of an indie game From there, it is mostly running away from clients. However the choice of having an AI-controlled character goes to show somehow things may have changed,
What I Enjoyed
It is very evident that they took fan feedback and made many changes that can really set it apart from the first game. Many elements from the original such as controls and gameplay mechanics are still the same but it also obvious the game has gone through some changes especially in the transitioning from way area to another where the lighting, sound, and atmospheric feel very different.
However, one of the most obvious is how the game feels a lot darker in its theme. While the demo consists of one level, but each section you go through has that foreboding feeling something is about to jump out.
Another obvious addition is that there is the ability to the co-op. While the demo doesn’t provide any online modes to partner with someone, it does add an AI-controlled character by your side to assist in some of the puzzles in the game.
Other changes are the puzzles are a lot more challenging and complex to perform which adds more depth and fun when attempting. One of the simplest obstacles that I really enjoyed was the encounter of the mannequin enemies which will move into capture you in dark areas and will stop when there is light shine on them.
Since you are able to whip out a flashlight, it was tricky, challenging yet fun to go through it especially when many of them come from various directions. I had to redo a few times but once I got past, it was rather exhilarating.
What I Didn’t Enjoy
The only one thing bothers is that that there is no option to change your controls mapping. This game plays better with a gamepad rather than a mouse and keyboard because some movement requires you to hold a button to grab on to something while performing a certain action. Even so, it can still feel awkward especially when the sprint button is on one of the front buttons.
I personally felt it would good to have the sprint can bind it to the right shoulder button. I felt it was a better fit when I can hold on to the sprint button while my other fingers can be placed to perform a jump or an attack move. It felt very awkward for me and at times I keep pressing the shoulder button thinking I could sprint. It just doesn’t feel natural to me at all.
While it still a demo, I felt they should add some weight to the story elements instead of relying a lot on the background objects to telltale. I felt it was a bit disappointing when there is no way to tell more about the storyline.
To Summarize
While the game will be coming out soon, I do hope some things can be changed as soon as they can such as the control scheme. However, the game is indeed a step above the original. The atmospheric surrounding, the sound as well music, and of course the ability to co-op is a definite game-changer for this sequel.
I was rather sceptical and not be putting too much hype but the demo has proven me otherwise. I am right now looking forward very much to the game.
Little Nightmare is scheduled for February 2021 launch date on all major consoles as well as the next-gen ones.
